Bar Kap is one of the most captivating places to enjoy cocktails. With its emphasis on Teochew heritage and cultural exchange, it is the latest addition to the restored House of Tan Yeok Nee. The last of Singapore’s “Four Grand Mansions” built by Teochew tycoons in colonial Singapore, it is also home to modern Japanese restaurant Loca Niru, the contemporary tea house Jing Studio, and a heritage gallery.
According to Chai Karim, the principal of Gaia Lifestyle Group and the Karim Family Foundation, which acquired and restored the mansion, Bar Kap is designed to resemble the private rooms of a historic tycoon or kapitan. These spaces aim to engage guests with the house’s history.
“The experience is crafted to feel rich and grounded in its surroundings. While you may come for a drink, you will leave with a deeper appreciation of the house and its stories,” she says.
The main hall is defined by its original timber beams and intricately carved ceilings, whose presence is enhanced by mirrors and reflective surfaces. At the centre, a Y-shaped console anchors the bar, fostering conviviality and allowing guests to watch cocktail-making in progress. A continuous frost rail keeps beverages at an ideal chill temperature.
Two private rooms are available for more intimate gatherings. The Carriage Room evokes a private train carriage, finished in fabric, timber, and painted brass. The Chamber resembles a traditional TCM apothecary, with its mid-century joinery and clay vessels used for ageing spirits or herbal concoctions, including moutai, green chartreuse, gin, and absinthe.
The menu, created in partnership with hospitality consultancy Studio Ryecroft, is structured into four eras, each representing a distinct chapter in the house’s history. It begins with the Kapitan Era, honouring Tan Yeok Nee, who was a kapitan (or leader) in his time. In Pepper Peddler, for instance, baijiu, gin, and makgeolli are combined with lemon, firewater, fizz, and long pepper in a refreshing, effervescent highball to celebrate the spice trade that fuelled Tan’s success.
The Station Master Era pays tribute to the British government. At the turn of the 20th century, Tan’s departure and rail development along Penang Road for Tank Road Station led to the mansion’s transfer to government ownership. Then, the house was occupied by assistant stationmaster, William Tearle.
Inspired by his favoured ingredients and styles, the spirit-forward Dynamo blends Irish whiskey, amaro, sherry, and Drambuie, deepened with savoury dark soya sauce and nuanced with chocolate and cardamom. The cocktail is part of Bar Kap’s clay-ageing programme, which matures spirits for cocktails in purple clay vessels located in The Chamber, to enhance their texture and flavour.
“What surprised me most was how no two batches ever turn out exactly the same, even when using the same recipe and ageing period,” says Bar Manager Edwin Tan.
The Order Era draws from the building’s later chapter as St Mary’s Home and School for Eurasian Girls. Recalling the vessels used to carry burning incense, Censer blends mezcal and Campari with pineapple and lime. It is finished with a torched pineapple ring submerged in the cocktail. Edwin likes how it balances smoky, bitter and tropical flavours, while remaining approachable.
In the Dynasty Era, the house is brought back to its modern form to welcome guests. Among its offerings is TCM Drawer No. 3, a creamy, zero-proof cocktail featuring soya milk, ginger, honeydew, chestnut honey, and gula melaka. Presented in ceramicware, it reflects the building’s most recent past as a traditional Chinese medicine facility. “It’s a reminder that non-alcoholic drinks can be just as thoughtful and layered as cocktails,” Edwin says.
His favourite pairing from the Kapitan’s Feast menu, meanwhile, is Mee Kapitan and Tank Road cocktail. “As the shrimp paste and mala spice infuse the noodles with rich savoury flavours, the cocktail adds bright citrus notes and the complexity of scotch.”
The Bar Kap Bao, filled with fragrant beef and house-special achar, is a treat, as is HTYN Salad, which has black fungus, bamboo shoot, celtuce, cordyceps, red capsicum, savoy cabbage, peanut, micro coriander, and spicy sour peanut dressing.
Wash it down with Lights Out from the Order Era, a delightful twist on the classic martini—a refreshing pour of gin, secco, vermouth, and mandarin, finished with fragrant pandan oil.
